Home Value - Landscaping

In this busy day and age many of us look at our home as a sanctuary, as well we should. However, the tight configuration of modern housing and Southern California real estate prices often can make that feeling of sanctuary little harder to achieve, that is where leafy green or colorful hedges can make a huge difference.

We recently had to move a tree that was in front of our office because we found out someone was allergic to it. It had a really nice canopy on it that I did not fully appreciate until it started to get hot. When I noticed the heat and the bright sun shining into the office window, I realized that I missed that tree! Now I look out the window now and see a lot of boring concrete. It is amazing how just that one tree with its lush foliage and broad canopy transformed the overall landscape.

Many times we get this question at the nursery, “We’ve got a slope in our yard and we just don’t know what to do with it. What do we plant on it?” It’s a great question with a lot of possibilities but also a lot of angst and living in San Diego, chances are you have a slope somewhere on your property.

Many of our customers live in back country areas with natural brush in the vicinity or in urban areas where houses are next to canyons. In their natural cycle, most native plants depend on fire to regenerate and/or restore nutrients to the soil. Because of this, people living in these areas must take into consideration the potential hazard of fire to their homes, particularly during the late summer and fall months when brush is high enough and dry enough to present a potential threat. It is during the autumn months that scorching Santa Ana winds take their toll on summer dried brush to cr

The other day, I was driving along in Mission Beach, near the Catamaran Hotel, and I happened upon a hedge that I myself had planted nearly 30 years ago. Remembering that I planted it, I decided that I ought to stop and take a look at it. What a magnificent thing – here’s a little hedge, only about three feet tall, made from a plant called Natal Plum, botanically known as Carissa. It’s bright green, and for 30 years it’s been sitting in the same spot.

A recent investigation conducted by investigators L. M. Anderson and H. K. Cordell showed that trees had a definite economic influence on the purchase price of residential properties. The study showed that the value of a home increased if it was landscaped with trees; the kind (deciduous of evergreen) or species had no significant influence. Based on data from 934 home sales, a buyer paid three to five percent more for a single family home with trees than for a similar residence without trees and, it seems it was the trees which made the difference.